Sandman
by Micayasha
Summary: Of course, Alice realized, she was needed in Wonderland. Well, if she was needed, then she really must go. .:ONESHOT:.


_I know this is really very strange. I don't actually know why I wrote it or where the idea came from. But constructive criticism would be cool. It's difficult to imitate Lewis Carroll's style, so let me know if I've done okay with that!

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Alice never dreamed of Wonderland anymore.

It used to be that every now and then, during some or other dream, something strange and out of place – say, a teacup that was cut in half – would appear, and there would be no explanation for it. Once, Alice dreamed she was lost in a labyrinth of rose bushes, and when she touched one of the roses, which were as red as her mother's lipstick, the colour rubbed off on her hand; the roses had only been painted red. Actually, Alice found, they were as white as the clouds, and this reminded of her something, but she couldn't place exactly what.

You see, for the most part, Alice had forgotten about Wonderland. She was growing older, and so when the rabbits in her dreams sometimes wore waistcoats or carried pocket watches, she thought nothing of it except that dreams were strange things, and who could really give them any rhyme or reason?

Still, at times the oddities bothered her. She would wake up and for the rest of the day, even during her lessons, part of her mind would be puzzling over why, exactly, she had dreamed of her pet cat grinning like a loon. It was rather like an itch that she could not reach.

But since she had reached the age of sixteen, these things no longer appeared in her dreams. In fact, more often than not she could not recall what she had dreamt at all.

It wasn't until her younger sister received a pet rabbit for her birthday that Alice remembered Wonderland at all.

The rabbit was called Lettuce, because of all the things they fed him, he seemed to like lettuce best. It was a rather large rabbit, and white, and for the most part Alice avoided it, because she did not like the way it looked at her, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

This proved not to be a totally unfounded fear, however, when one night the rabbit hopped into her room with something shiny in its mouth.

Alice woke when it began to paw at her cheek, and blinked at it in a startled why. "Rabbit," she said, (for she never called it Lettuce, which she found to be an utterly ridiculous name) "how did you get out of your cage?"

The rabbit blinked at her, and though it might have been sleepiness clouding her mind, Alice was sure it looked rather smug.

"And what's that you've got in your mouth?" she went on. She gently pried the rabbit's mouth open and took out the shining object, finding it to be her father's golden pocket watch. _How peculiar_, Alice thought to herself. _What should a rabbit want with a pocket watch, I wonder?_ "Where did you find this, Rabbit? Silly thing. If Father finds it in my room he shall be very cross."

Indeed, her father _was_ cross the next morning. It appeared that not only had his pocket watch gone missing, but his best waistcoats were strewn across the bedroom floor. Very odd indeed, he told Alice's mother, and there was no explanation at all for the small white hairs stuck to them.

It was also discovered that Alice, as well as being sleepier more often, had developed a rather nasty cough. It did not appear to be worsening, but neither did it go away. The doctor determined that she should have lots of honey with her afternoon tea, and said that it was most likely nothing to worry about.

Alice snuck the pocket watch back into her father's dresser drawer the moment she had the chance, but the next morning she found it exactly where the rabbit had left it – on the writing desk in her bedroom.

_Stranger and strange,_ she thought, and it went on this way for several nights, until one night the rabbit came to her in a dream, wearing an expensive-looking checkered waistcoat and a monocle. He was larger than usual, and he stood on his hind legs, looking quite cross.

_How queer,_ Alice thought, _that a rabbit should be able to look cross._

"You're late," he said, and his tone was as irritated as his expression. "You're very late indeed. You're needed, you know."

"Late?" Alice echoed, bewildered. "Whatever for?"

"_Late_," he insisted, and pulled a pocket watch from his waistcoat, holding it clumsily between his two paws and peering at it intently. "_Very_ late," he added, and would say no more.

_Late. Late. I'm late, late for… for a… late for…_

Memories began to flash before her eyes – dancing cards, a sobbing turtle, a white rabbit who had led her down a hole –

"_I'm late! I'm late for a very important date!_"

And a grinning cat, disappearing bit by bit until only the mischievous smile was left –

"_Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here."_

And croquet, and flamingoes, and a very fat woman wearing a crown –

"_Off with her head!"_

Wonderland! Of course, Alice realized, she was needed in _Wonderland._ She could not imagine how she could have forgotten.

Well, Alice reasoned, if she was needed, then she really must go.

The next morning, when the maid came in to wake Alice for her lessons, her father's gold watch was clutched tightly in her hand, and Alice would not wake.


End file.
